NBA-G-League Basketball (Men)

There are many antiquated idioms in pro sports, one being there's no such thing as moral victories. But on Saturday, in a 15-point loss to the Delaware Blue Coats, the 905 earned one. Coaches and players say they hate 'excuses', but today's were legitimate:
-No Chris Boucher, Jordan Loyd, or Malachi Richardson.
-6 games in 10 nights.
-8 active players.
-Delaware coming off a week of rest.
Raptors 905 Head Coach Jama Mahlalela outlined all of the above in the pregame media scrum, and... [read more]

There are many antiquated idioms in pro sports, one being there's no such thing as moral victories. But on Saturday, in a 15-point loss to the Delaware Blue Coats, the 905 earned one. Coaches and players say they hate 'excuses', but today's were legitimate:-No Chris Boucher, Jordan Loyd, or Malachi Richardson.-6 games in 10 nights.-8 active players.-Delaware coming off a week of rest. Raptors 905 Head Coach Jama Mahlalela outlined all of the above in the pregame media scrum, and with his full roster only able to eke out a win over the Blue Coats on opening night, another win was going to be a tough ask. One addition to the lineup was Kyle Collinsworth, returning from an ankle injury. He tested the ankle early - driving to the hoop four times, scoring on two of them, and drawing a foul on another. Heading into the game's first timeout, 905 forward Christian Watford (6'9''-F-91, college: Indiana) held his chest and mimed deep breaths at Collinsworth', who smiled. Collinsworth went an encouraging 6-for-11 from the field with 16 points. 'Our team was really excited to have him back. He's the leader of our team,' Mahlalela said post game. 'Really good first half - the four-five games off started to get to him after that, which happens.' Kay Felder (5'9''-PG-95, college: Oakland) also started strong - scoring on a bully-ball post up (he's 5'9, his defender Matt Farrell is 6'1). He added a nice assist for a corner three, a smooth pull-up, and a gorgeous feed in transition to Collinsworth for an And-1. Another great sign was Deng Adel's early play. Starting at the four, Adel was flying defensively, contesting shooters and bodying up 7-footers inside. 'Nice job Adel' was echoing from Mahlalela's mouth throughout the opening moments. 'For Deng it's that learning moment of how do I guard players like that,' Mahlalela said. 'It's about 'how do I guard those really big popping, shooting talented players? That's that growth. He's winning that moment of how do I match up against this type of player, and next game it may be a different type of player and he'll have to figure that one out too.' The defensive intensity would wane in the back half of the quarter, though. Blue Coats two-way Shake Milton (6'6''-G-96, college: SMU) got going, scoring 11 points, with two threes. And Cameron Oliver (6'8''-F-96, college: Nevada) sucked the air out of the building with a massive dunk. While the 905 were up 8 after 1, it was going to be tough to maintain the lead with only 8 active players. Delaware quickly cut the lead to 1 in the second, offensive rebounding (11 conceded), and half court defence (32 points in the paint conceded on 16-for-24 shooting) becoming major issues. While the Blue Coats were getting almost anything they wanted, the undermanned 905 fought gamely - Adel contesting shots and pumping fists, while going 6-for-6 from the foul line (and 1-for-6 from the field) for 8 first half points. Open Tryout walk-on Khadim Lattin was also huge in his first start of the season, scooping up 5 offensive boards in the first half, while going 4-for-9 from the field, including a big three. Christian Watford going 3-for-4 from deep allowed the 905 to tread water. The Blue Coats shot 49% in the half, but they only made 8-of-23 threes. Somehow the 905 trailed by 4 at the break. In the third two early Blue Coats threes by Farrell and Jonah Bolden (6'10''-F/C-96, college: UCLA) put the lead up to 7, while the 905's offence ground to a halt, almost exclusively depending on Felder to score or create. Adel tried to revive the crowd with a poster dunk, but after gathering a full head of steam, 6'11 Norvel Pelle (6'10''-F-93, college: Iona) sent him away at the apex. Pelle owned the paint, blocking 6 shots, many of the angry, swatting out-of-bounds variety. After easy dunks and layups from the Blue Coats' bigs upped the lead to double digits, Mahlalela went to a rarely-seen zone. But that was rendered moot by the Blue Coats scoring 5 points in transition to close the quarter. The Blue Coats were up 96-78 after three, and the 905 couldn't make another run. Mahlalela said they're going to 'flush this loss down the toilet,' which seems a worth destination. They host the Windy City Bulls at home on Wednesday.Courtesy of: raptorsrepublic.com

Henry Ellenson (6'10''-C-97, college: Marquette) scored a team high 27 points but it wasn't enough for the Grand Rapids Drive who fell to the Windy City Bulls 96-93 Friday night at the Deltaplex. Rawle Alkins (6'6''-SG-97, college: Arizona) led all scorers with 30 for Windy City. The Drive rallied from 18 down at the start of the fourth quarter to cut the lead to three with just one second left in the game. Khyri Thomas (6'3''-G-96, college: Creighton) had a chance to tie but missed a thr... [read more]

Henry Ellenson (6'10''-C-97, college: Marquette) scored a team high 27 points but it wasn't enough for the Grand Rapids Drive who fell to the Windy City Bulls 96-93 Friday night at the Deltaplex. Rawle Alkins (6'6''-SG-97, college: Arizona) led all scorers with 30 for Windy City. The Drive rallied from 18 down at the start of the fourth quarter to cut the lead to three with just one second left in the game. Khyri Thomas (6'3''-G-96, college: Creighton) had a chance to tie but missed a three at the buzzer that would have sent the game to overtime. Friday's matchup was the third time the teams have played this young season. Prior to the loss, the Drive were 2-0 against Windy City.Courtesy of: wzzm13.com

The Oklahoma City Blue (5-0) handed the Sioux Falls Skyforce (6-1) its first loss of the season in a lopsided 140-121 win on Thursday night at the Cox Convention Center. Former Skyforce guard Scotty Hopson (6'7''-F/G-89, college: Tennessee) dropped a team-high 27 points (9-10 FG) and seven rebounds in the win for the Blue. Sioux Falls held a nine-point advantage heading into the final period, but lacked defensive identity down the stretch after Miami HEAT two-way player Yante Maten (6'8''... [read more]

The Oklahoma City Blue (5-0) handed the Sioux Falls Skyforce (6-1) its first loss of the season in a lopsided 140-121 win on Thursday night at the Cox Convention Center. Former Skyforce guard Scotty Hopson (6'7''-F/G-89, college: Tennessee) dropped a team-high 27 points (9-10 FG) and seven rebounds in the win for the Blue. Sioux Falls held a nine-point advantage heading into the final period, but lacked defensive identity down the stretch after Miami HEAT two-way player Yante Maten (6'8''-F-96, college: Georgia) (20 points and four rebounds) fouled out for the second time in as many games. Maten played just 51 seconds in the fourth quarter before disqualification, while the Blue went on to outscore the Skyforce 49-21 to end the game. Deandre Liggins (6'6''-G-88, college: Kentucky) (25 points and six assists) made a career-high seven three-pointers to lead a Sioux Falls team that saw four players score 20-or-more points on the night. Raphiael Putney (6'10''-F-90, college: Massachusetts) (25 points and six rebounds) and Rodney Purvis (6'4''-SG-94, college: Connecticut) (21 points and seven rebounds) accompanied Liggins and Maten to round out much of the offensive production in the loss. Oklahoma City Thunder two-way player Tyler Davis (6'10''-C-97, college: Texas A&M) tallied the games only double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds in just 21 minutes off the bench in the contest, while fellow Thunder two-way player Deonte Burton overcame a slow start to record 17 points in the win. Bryce Alford (6'3''-G-94, college: UCLA) (22 points), Justin Leon (6'8''-F-95, college: Florida) (16 points) and Dezmine Wells (6'5''-G-92, college: Maryland) (13 points) accompanied Davis off the Blue bench as Oklahoma City's second unit outscored the Skyforce bench by a 74-30 margin. Briante Weber (6'2''-PG-92, college: VCU) (16 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals) and Sioux Falls will now look to get back on track as the team travels to Memphis to take on the Hustle (3-2) for the second time this season. Meanwhile, the Blue have a tight turnaround as they travel to Frisco, TX to take on the Legends (2-3) tomorrow night.Courtesy of: ksfy.com

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